


Healing Hearts

by EtherealHeartAches



Category: Hazbin Hotel (Web Series)
Genre: Abuse, Acephobia, Alastor Being a Jerk (Hazbin Hotel), Alastor is Bad at Feelings (Hazbin Hotel), Alastor is in Hell for a Reason (Hazbin Hotel), Anti-Hero, Aromantic Alastor (Hazbin Hotel), Aromantic Asexual Alastor (Hazbin Hotel), Asexual Alastor (Hazbin Hotel), Blood, Flashbacks, Gen, Hate to Love, Hurt, Hurt/Comfort, Original Character(s), Period-Typical Racism, Possessive Behavior, Queerplatonic Relationships, Repressed Memories, Self-Harm, Sexual Assault, Slow Build, Slow Burn, Slow To Update, Soft Alastor (Hazbin Hotel), Symbolism, Trauma, Triggers, True Love, Violence
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-09-07
Updated: 2020-10-10
Packaged: 2021-03-06 22:07:18
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 5
Words: 14,090
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26336161
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/EtherealHeartAches/pseuds/EtherealHeartAches
Summary: It says in many books of demonology that Hell's most fearful torturer — Lucifer's right hand man and the most sadistic demon in this entire inferno — has a soulmate. A partner in crime.Of course, it's only rumored. We don't know if it's true! But as we see this one woman fall into Hell with a rose ring around her finger, the same ring that the powerful overlord we mentioned earlier wears, we just can't help but look into this horrible and sorrowful tale and see what happens to these two miserable demons.
Relationships: Alastor (Hazbin Hotel)/Reader, Angel Dust/Husk (Hazbin Hotel), Charlie Magne/Vaggie
Comments: 4
Kudos: 74





	1. Chapter 1

You closed your book on Hell's history and began to fiddle with your ring, that one that, no matter how hard you tugged, never came off your hand. The ring was beautiful, intricate red crystals imbedded in a glass structure that of a rose, surrounded by smaller roses and crystals. Every time you held it under a light, it would gleam and glimmer and light up your pretty sad life.

You heard a door slam close downstairs and you flinched, your hands instinctively coming up to defend yourself. You let out an anxious sigh, he was angry. He was always angry. If he wasn't angry, he was lustful. If he wasn't lustful, he wasn't at home. If he was still at home, he was angry. It was a vicious cycle.

You glanced towards the luggage that lay vacant by the closet doors, just waiting for you to fill it up and run out of those front doors and escape your personal Hell. You felt some sort of pull towards the luggage, as if someone had wrapped some string around your waist and began to tug.

You quietly stood up from your bed and stalked over to it. You slowly unzipped it and began to, as quietly as you could, shovel all of your clothes into the baggage, not caring if they get wrinkled. You grabbed a picture frame that was on your nightstand, seeing a photo of you and your beloved husband…

Beloved?

More like the devil himself.

You glared at the picture and threw it on the ground, creating a loud crash to ring through the house.

You finished putting everything in your luggage, no longer hearing him slamming things downstairs. You picked up the heavy luggage and was about to walk out the door until you saw him in the doorway.

"...Honey? Where are you heading off to?" He took a small step forward and you gripped the handle tighter, "I… A friend called me, she wants me to visit the city."

He saw the empty closet, "You really think you need all those clothes for visiting?" He took another step. You stood your ground. "Yes."

He let out an airy chuckle, "I think you're lying."

Why was he being so calm…?

Your legs were overcooked noodles, stomach a pit of cold snakes and your hands a jittery mess, "M-Me? Lying? Why would you say that?" He took another step forward and you broke, taking a step back in fear.

He completely disregarded the question and accused you, "You're cheating on me, aren't you?!" He finally broke the distance between you and grabbed your shoulders, you stammered out, "What?! No! I'd never—"

"YOU LYING BITCH!" He grabbed your luggage and threw it to the other side of the room, creating a loud slamming clatter to echo through the room, and roughly grabbed your wrist. You tried to get away, your calm reasoning being thrown out the window and set on fire. 

He punched you in the eye and pushed you onto the bed, "You need to see who you _really_ belong to." He then began to unbuckle his…

No...

No!

NO!

You pressed your palms to his chest and wildly shook your head, "No! No, I don't—" He removed your hands and roughly pinned them to the bed sheets. "You asked for this… _Now you're getting it."_

**_NO!! STOP!!_ **

Through blurry eyes and a racing broken heart, you kicked his stomach and watched him double down in pain, you sat up and punched him hard in the face, creating a loud grunt to come out of him as he stumbled back.

You grabbed your glass of water, pouring the rest of it out onto the floor and then smashing it into his head. You quickly went over to your luggage and picked it up, your arm on fire and your lungs ashy and heaving. Heavily breathing in cold dry air, leaving a scratchy voice to yell, "NO MEANS NO, MOTHERFUCKER!"

You opened the bedroom door and slammed it close, quickly running down the stairs and out the front door, hearing him yell out to you in anger. You ran out into the rain and bounded down the stone steps, quickly taking off your wedding ring and placing it on the last step.

As you were walking towards — you honestly didn't know — wherever, you heard some chatter from the plethora of TVs in a Radio Hack, some footage that they shot over 2 weeks ago, but recorded and played over and over for the sake of making fun of whoever was in that footage.

"-otel that can rehabilitate sinners!"

You stopped dead in your tracks. Hotel? Also, why did that voice sound so familiar? You shoved yourself through the group of demons and caught sight of the blond-haired demon you knew all too much about. Charlie. The princess of Hell and someone you were kinda close to. You honestly didn't know where your friendship was with her. If she even considered you two as friends.

You watched in interest as Charlie watched the crowd behind the camera in fear of what they would think of her passion project. "...You know? Because hotels are for people passing through! T-Temporarily…" A bunch of demons around you laughed out loud.

"I figured it would serve a purpose! A place to work towards redemption, yay…" There was a long moment of silence and quiet snickers from some people around you.

"Look, each one of you has something good deep down inside… I know you do!"

You had enough of this, you liked the idea. You did! But, hearing Charlie get ridiculed for wanting the best for her people was just too much to bear right now. You looked closer at the screen and saw an address to the hotel.

333 Sinners Avenue, Pentagram City, Superbia.

You then started on your walk towards the hotel, your arm on fire from having to carry the heavy luggage, you would have to take some breaks from time to time but it would be worth it.

Anything to get away from… Him.

You shivered at just him being mentioned. That, or your cold from walking in the rain.

You shook your head slightly as if that would get the memories of him and his actions out of your head. You didn't want anything to do with him. All you wanted was a second death for him. Was that too much to ask?

He hurt you. So badly. And now it was time for him to face the consequences.

God everything hurt, your lungs, arms, legs, everything! Your muscles were aching and your joints were practically jelly. Skin torn and sweaty, nerves shot and bones hollow and reverberating your pain throughout your entire body.

You were so tired as well. So very tired. Your eyes hung 30 lb. bags and lifted 50 lb. eyelids. What time was it? 3 in the morning? That's what it felt like. Pretty soon if you stayed up late enough, you'd see a pink sky, hearing hellish birds screeching at you to wake up, their terrifying teeth gnawing at another one of their kind. You'd smell the freshest air that Hell could afford, cool breezes and blooming Gloriosa Superbas. Nicely scented death followed with old cigarettes and century long pollution. If you could, you'd taste the recently baked — honey and jam spread right on — toast, as well as eggs and fluffy pancakes with the sweetest maple syrup you could desire—

You felt your mouth water at just the sheer mention of the fluffy breakfast food drenched in amber sweetness. Finally getting pulled out of your inner monologue about the perfect morning, you walked up to the building in question. Looking up, you found that the hotel was…

Unholy shit.

It was huge!

There were so many lights and windows and— why was there a ship on the side of the building? Nevermind, that's not important. You surged forward, walking up the stairs and towards the door.

This was it. This was your chance towards happiness. Towards freedom. You'll finally get peace again, you'll finally genuinely smile again, you'll finally make some friends without supervision from him. And most importantly…

You'll finally have those perfect mornings again. 

With honey and jam toast and screeching hellish birds with the pentagram slowly rising above, adding light and hope to this god forsaken place…

Right?

Your hand curled up into a gentle fist before softly knocking 3 times in a row. You heard some shuffling and a loud "We aren't done discussing this!" before the door opened swiftly, a grey woman — with a lot of hair — looked at you with a big red X substituting one of her eyes. She eyed you up and down before frowning, "Can I help you?"

"Um… Yes, I'd like to check in. This is the hotel that can rehabilitate sinners, right?"

The grey haired woman's eye widened, before she lifted an index finger. "Could you excuse me for just one second?" Before you could even respond the door slammed closed. Wow. You felt very welcomed here. A bit too welcome.

You heard some excited yelling before the door opened again, the grey haired woman's expression tried to stay neutral but ended up breaking, a small smile replaced her cold demeanor instead. "Would you follow me please?"

She opened the door wider and you stepped in, looking around at the wide lobby. It was dim, a lit fireplace and a few demons around the small inferno. A small one with a poodle skirt was cleaning the mantle above the fireplace like it was the end of the world. A cat demon who passed out, sprawled over the entire sofa with a bottle in his clawed hand. And a spider, who was texting on his phone and eating some chips. The woman who let you in started to speak up.

"Me and Charlie are very excited for a new guest to check in. But, you need to know a few things first." Her small smile went away as she became serious, a cold expression as the pink bow in her hair seemed to sharpen into what looked like devil horns. "Don't you DARE think of hurting or betraying this hotel or its inhabitants. You understand?"

You quickly nodded. Damn, she was intense. She finally calmed down and let out a small sigh, "Good. Now here, fill this out. When you're done, go to Charlie's office, or room '666', and return the clipboard. You'll get your key and you can finally…" She eyed you up and down again, "Get some dry clothes."

You nodded and grabbed the clipboard and pen she handed you. Watching her walk off, you sat down on a bar stool and began to fill out the questionnaire.

"What is your name and/or nickname?"

You paused, did you want another name? Yes. You did. You so desperately did. New place, new you, right? You wrote down your real name before writing down your new name.

"Epione"

A new identity, a new you. An old you wouldn't be good. He'd find you. But Epione? He would just tilt his head and be the most confused person in all of Hell.

You smiled lightly before filling out another question,

"Age? Time and cause of death? (Specifics are appreciated)"

28 years. December 13th, 2004. Shot in the head.

You rubbed your temple at that forgotten memory. Ouch.

"Please list your sins, or what you believe is what made you fall."

Wrath, fear, and envy.

You filled out some more unnecessary questions, ones that would make you yawn. You stretched and then stood up, picking up your heavy luggage once more, making your arm scream in pain.

You then started your long walk up the stairs. And by the time you finished the 6th floor, you were out of breath. Your hands and knees shaking from the long walk. It wasn't like you were out of shape. It was just that heavy luggage, 6 floors, and fatigue did not mix. You dropped the luggage with a loud yet muffled thud against the hotel's carpet, letting out an exhausted breath and stretching your arms, feeling a tight and fiery pull flaring across your muscles and tissue. Cold sweat and hot breaths filled the hotel hallway, as well as old rain and tears.

God you needed a shower.

You picked up the luggage again — practically dragging it across the floor at this point — and made your way towards the room '666'. You curled your hand up into a fist and gave 3 small knocks. Hearing some chatter simmer down into silence before an all too familiar and cheery voice called out, "Come in!"

You opened the door and caught sight of your old friend. Charlie. She gasped at the sight of you, "Oh my…" She was about to state your name before you cut her off, "Epione. It's Epione now. And yeah, hey Charlie."

She smiled brightly and walked over, gently grabbing you by the shoulders, about to hug you but soon noticing how wet your clothes were. "Epione, you're soaking wet! Did you not have an umbrella?"

You merely shook your head, "No, Charlo— Charlie. I… I had to get away." You looked down and bit your lip slightly at the memory, Charlie knew what you were talking about, as all you heard from her was just a small "Oh."

Quickly though, she changed the subject. "So! You're hoping to check in?" You nodded once more, handing her the clipboard and pen. She looked it over, reading some long answers and skimming over short ones, all the while you felt a long and hard stare towards you. Glancing over, you saw 3 eyes and an X. Two of them being red and mischievous, and an eye and an X glaring with suspicion towards you, both making you shift uncomfortably before Charlie smiled in content and gave you a big hug, despite your wet clothes. "Welcome to the Happy Hotel! You're gonna love it here!"

She must have noticed your shifting eyes when she pulled away, because she then started to introduce the 2 who shared a common interest in staring. "Oh! Those two? That's Vaggie, she's the hotel's manager —" She leaned in and whispered, "Don't worry about her not trusting you, she's always like that." she then pointed towards the one next to Vaggie. "That's Alastor, he helps me and Vaggie run the hotel and keeps it from being destroyed!"

Alastor immediately took a step forward and stuck his hand towards you, "Pleasure meeting you, darling!" Before you could even respond, he reached for your wrist and pulled. Hard.

Flashes and remnants of… Him… appeared in your brain. Your heart got caught in your throat and your mind flashed with red. 

DON'T TRUST HIM!

BEWARE!

RED FLAG!

NO!

STOP!

_STOP!_

**_STOP!_ **

"Quite a pleas—"

With a gasp and a flick of your wrist, it was free from his grasp, you rubbed and cradled your hand and kept it close to your chest. "N-Nice to meet you too… I'm sorry, it's just I don't like being touched." Judging from the shocked expression on his face, you could tell this wasn't what normally happened with him.

Demons who wouldn't mind being touched would accept it any time.

And demons who didn't like it would just have to deal with it.

His shocked expression quickly went away as he retracted his arm, hiding it behind his back. "Don't worry, darling! It's quite alright! Although…" He bent down at the waist slightly and took a good look at you, rubbing his thumb and index finger across his chin. You, however, immediately tensed up and needed to find a way out of this situation fast. He reminded you too much of him. Too much of what you hated. You thought you'd get your perfect mornings. But how would they be perfect if you had to spend it with Alastor? The man who practically emitted "I'm gonna kill you" vibes? The man who could find out your weak points and use them against your will? The man who reminded you so much of… of…

**_Him._ **

You quickly got snapped back to reality as you felt a gloved finger begin to touch your face. "My, my, you certainly have a great complexion! The dark freckles with the grey skin do tie everything together, don't you think, dear?"

Before Charlie or Vaggie could step in, you reached and grabbed his wrist with a tight grip. Listen, you wouldn't do this often. But you would if it meant defending your life or your sanity. The bane of your existence used to touch your face, he always did, either with forceful slams or with a gentle breeze, he touched you and you weren't gonna let it happen again. No matter what.

"Touch me again and I'll break your wrist."

Alastor, with his big smile, stared at you in surprise, before he broke out in a series of haughty laughs. Nearing the end of his episode, he wiped away an imaginary tear before he spoke up, "Darling, with you and your…" He rolled his wrist — the one that wasn't held in a deathly grasp — and struggled to find the right word "... small stature, I believe you may be, dare I say, bluffing!"

Your eyes widened at his statement, how dare he?!

Charlie quickly stepped in and let out a nervous laugh, "I think we should get you to your room! You had a long day, right?" 

She glanced towards her partner in worry, "Vaggie will take you to your room!" She grabbed a small key from an old drawer and handed it to Vaggie.

You followed Vaggie to your new room, silence enveloping the two of you. You watched as your luggage swung in harmony with Vaggie's strides, she'd offered to carry your bag, you remember saying "Yes!" over and over like it was the end of the world.

Vaggie let out a small sigh before she turned to you, a tiny frown adorning her features. "Look, Epione, you're playing with fire, and you've played with it ever since you showed even an ounce of fear when the Radio Demon tried to shake your hand. And even worse, he's probably got his sights on you because you fucking threatened to break his wrist. Do you understand how much of a dumbass you have to be to do that? With someone like him?!"

"Um—"

"You don't. You don't understand how powerful he is, Epione. He has destroyed towns, cities, even circles. He has too much power, and if you get on his bad side he may hurt you. He is not a source to be reckoned with! Me and Charlie won't always be there, and you can get hurt. Don't. Trust. Him." With that last word, she opened your bedroom door and handed you your luggage, as well as some sort of plant that she tied up.

"Demons hate this stuff. If you think you're being watched, or you're about to be harmed, burn this and they'll leave you alone for good. And for good measure, just repeat, 'I repent those who abolish my right for privacy, peace, and safety.' it'll work, trust me."

You nodded and took a small sniff of the herb. Sage. It was strong. You gave her a small "Thanks." before you walked inside and closed your bedroom door, resting against it and slowly sliding down until you hit the floor, exhausted and wanting to retreat.

You sat there, breathing in the old hotel scent, hearing the car alarms and explosions from outside, tasting faint amounts of blood from biting down on your tongue so hard, feeling the rugged and ancient carpets, and seeing nothing but darkness.

Eyes shut and body relaxed, you took a deep breath, reveling in what you considered peace.


	2. Pools of Panic

Pain.

Screaming.

Bruises.

Slams.

Shoves.

Punches.

Kicks.

Yelling.

Crying.

**Henry.**

You gasped loudly and sat up from your bed, taking deep, shuddering breaths and feeling some phantom pains in your shoulder. You looked out the window and saw that it was bright out, your gaze on the window soon drifted towards the clock on your bedside table.

8:00 a.m.

Great.

Having only slept 5 hours, you dragged yourself out of bed and sifted through your unopened luggage. Finding a black and white striped shirt, along with black jeans and shoes, and some socks.

You walked into the bathroom and moved your long black hair to the side, finding the bruise on your eye. It was dying down but damn, did it hurt. You let out a sigh and examined your grey and dark freckled skin for any cuts or bruises. None, thank God. You also examined your eyes as well just for fun, you only saw black scleras, green irises and black pupils, creating a small pattern. You chuckled at the thought. 

Once you finished getting ready for the morning, you picked up your hellphone and froze, staring at the screen in shock.

**Henry: Where are you?! sent at 3:45 a.m.**

**Henry: "I'm leaving, I'll come back when you die." sent at 3:46 a.m.**

**Henry: What the fuck?! Come back now!! sent at 3:47 a.m.**

**Henry: Listen, honey, you know I love you… I'm worried sick about you. Please come back. You're not answering any of my calls or texts. Please. sent at 3:59 a.m.**

**Henry: Honey. sent at 4:00 a.m.**

**Henry: FUCKING ANSWER ME sent at 4:01 a.m.**

**Henry: That's it, I'm burning your shit, you're acting like a bitch and you know it. sent at 4:03 a.m.**

**Henry: I know where you are, honey. You're in that lil sappy hotel. I'll find you and trust me, I will FUCKING KI**

You stopped reading and threw your hellphone against the wall in anger and fear, quickly stomping on it and throwing it out the window. You ran your hands through your hair and took a shaking breath, feeling a few vines that grew in. You then rubbed your eyes aggressively, trying to get the glowing green, anger filled light out of them and letting out a scream of anger, kicking your bed-post and practically tearing out your hair. He found you?! How?! You didn't show any trace of where you'd been! You never told him where you were! How the fuck did he find you?!

You abruptly sat down on the floor, hearing some leaves crunching and a few vines being snapped off the wall, and in an act to try to ground yourself, you desperately scratched at your arms and neck and legs, leaving trails upon trails of inflamed skin. You felt like you were gonna float away if you didn't do something. You pulled your hair and tried to calm your breathing. You couldn't.

The wall behind you seemed like a good idea.

You lowered your head and quickly banged it against the wallpaper, hearing a loud slam from behind you. You did it again, feeling more grounded with yourself, but it wasn't enough. You turned around and raised your head back, before slamming your forehead hard against the wall. There.

You took a deep breath and let the headache subside, resting your forehead against the wall, feeling the twigs and the vines wither and crumble away, reverting back into wherever they came from, holding yourself for dear life and pressing your nails into the palms of your hands. Your brain felt like it was on fire, throbbing and overflowing with questions and anxiety. You heard a door creak open and some skittering, feeling a small hand pat your shoulder, you turned your head to your side, seeing a poodle skirt and pink hair.

"Miss Epione? Are you okay? We heard some loud thuds and got concerned."

Your eyebrows knitted in confusion, "...We?"

"Yeah! Me, Miss Charlie, Miss Vaggie, Mr. Alastor, Mr. Husk, Miss Crymini, Mr. Baxter, and Mr. Angel! All of us! We're all waiting for you and they sent me up to check on you. So, are you okay?"

You took a deep breath and lifted your head, "Yeah… Just– Taking a small breather." The little bug giggled, "With your head against a wall? That's silly! Oh my gosh your hair, it's so messy! Here, let me brush it for you!" She zoomed past you and grabbed your brush, quickly coming back and brushing your hair. It was so fast, that when she finished, your hair had fluffed up near the bottom.

"...Thanks."

"No problem! C'mon, let's go eat breakfast!" She led the way, having to pause in her fast pace multiple times and wait for you to catch up.

When you came down for breakfast, you saw that Charlie and Vaggie had worried looks, but it went away when they saw that the little bug was cheerful, not concerned nor sad.

And when you sat down, you saw a glimpse of the little bug running into the kitchens swinging doors, tugging Alastor's sleeve and offering to help. You took a deep breath and rubbed your temple, feeling a weird rubbery spot in your skin where there used to be a hole. Charlie cleared her throat and placed a small hand on your shoulder, "Are you okay?"

"...Yep."

"Epione."

"I'm fine."

"Epione… Please—"

"I said I'm fine!" You snapped and finally looked towards Charlie with an angered look on your face. Shit. You immediately backed tracked and spoke up, 

"I'm sorry. It's just—" You heard the little bug and Alastor walk in the dining room with platters of food. No. Don't say it in front of him. Not him. NEVER him. You don't know what he could do with that information. And the little bug? She's too sweet and happy to be burdened with your troubles, you don't want to burn out her fire of joy and excitement. You stopped talking and looked away from Charlie before deciding to change the subject, grabbing a fork and a plate of food,

"Man, I'm starving! Can't wait to eat this, don't you think, Charlotte?"

"Charlie." Her eyebrows knitted in deep concern, the only time you'd ever gotten her name wrong like that was 2011…

"Yeah. Charlie. That's what I said." You grabbed some maple syrup and practically drowned your pancakes in the sticky substance, your restlessness and your nerves still sensitive, you hadn't planned for that much syrup. The spider across from you almost gagged, "Jesus, calm down! What are ya tryna do, kill ya-self?!" He snatched the bottle from your hand and set it on the table farthest from you. The demon next to you, Alastor, stared in amazement at the little syrup pool you made on your plate of food. All you did was let out an annoyed sigh and take a small bite of your pancakes. The fluffy pancakes were surprisingly not soggy from the sheer amount of syrup you doused it with. 

When you finished eating, you washed your plate and put it away, turning around and seeing Charlie. "Oh, hey—"

She stated your real name with a serious look on her face, grabbing your hands and massaging them in small circles with her thumbs. "What happened? I– You haven't called me Charlotte like that since '11. What's wrong?" You took in a deep breath and spoke up.

"It's… It's Henry. He knows where I am…He found out. I don't know how, but he did."

Charlie froze, before shaking it off with a smile, "Well, we don't need to worry! Alastor can—"

"Charlie, Alastor can't do shit! Henry is gaining enough power as it is. Hell, he used my access to the Hive to get everything he wanted. He has weapons. Angelic weapons. If he wanted to, he could set up angelic turrets around the hotel and we'd be dead in a millisecond!"

Charlie pressed a hand to her face in worry, before she leaned against the counter and covered her whole face with her hands. "Oh, god… Oh, no… What do we do?" You crossed your arms in deep thought, what could you do?

.

.

.

!

Your eyes widened and you spoke up, "He can't fight. He does have power, and he does have weapons. But if we take that away, he's just useless."

"Well how do we get rid of his powers? That sounds impossible!" Charlie threw her hands out in exasperation, before letting them fall limply at her sides.

You grabbed a napkin and a pen, quickly sketching out a metal collar with messy lines. "It's this."

"What is 'this'?" Charlie grabbed the napkin and eyed it in confusion, "A power disabler. It's powerful. Very powerful. It could even get rid of Lucifer's powers if it was around his neck. I've never used it, so I don't know what it does once it's around a demon's neck. All I know is that it drains powers very quickly."

Charlie nodded and folded the napkin, putting it in her pocket, "Okay… How do we get rid of his weapons?" You mindlessly scratched at your face in deep thought, "Um… He has all his weapons in this garage. We could either blow it up, or steal it. But we should be careful. Not just 'blow it up', we gotta make sure that the weapons don't get damaged and that we take all of them, too. The bomb could just be used for blowing up the security door he has. But even then, we'd need a highly skilled bomb technician to do it." She nodded once more, "Ok… Oh, right, I wanna show you something we found!"

You tilted your head in slight confusion, before Charlie grabbed your hand and began to lead you away as soon as the dining room's doors swung open, revealing a radio with many dishes in his hands. You only saw him for a split second.

As Charlie led you through the hotel, through some halls and some corridors, you then stopped in front of a closed off room. You eyed the door, stopping at the top of the frame seeing the words "Nurse's Office".

Your eyes widened and you snapped your head towards Charlie, she nodded and gestured for you to look around. A big smile grew on your face as you pushed open the door and looked around, finding abandoned chairs and tables, dusty drawers and flickering fluorescent lights. Charlie followed you in and stood by the door frame, leaning against it with a small smile on her face. "We can get Niffty to clean this room for you. She's really good at cleaning."

"Niffty?'

"Yeah, you met her before, she's the little bug with the poodle skirt, about this high." She set her hand a bit below her hip, you then realized, the little bug!

"Oh, yeah, I know her! And yes, I'd love it if she'd tidy this place up."

"Great!" She lightly clapped her hands together and bounced on her heels. A small smile grew on your face as you watched her jump up and down. Cute.

"I'll go get her!" She then turned around and ran off, looking for the little electric ball named Niffty. You continued to look around until you heard some heels clicking. Or were they tap shoes? You figured they were just passing by, seeing what the noise was until you heard the taps getting louder.

Closer.

You waited until they stopped. Soon turning around and seeing a pair of bright red eyes.

A shiver ran down your spine as you stared him down, only seeing glimpses of Henry.

Alastor's smile grew in size as he spoke up with a low voice, "Epione."

You gulped, "...Y-Yes?" Damn you and your stuttering to Double Hell!

He leaned forward slightly, as if he could get any closer, you could feel his hot breath brushing against you as you desperately tried to look anywhere else but him. All of a sudden the air shifted and Alastor immediately pulled back, using his thumb and index finger to push the corners of your mouth up into a smile, "Smile my dear! You know you're never fully dressed without one!"

He looked around the room with a flourish, "Wowie! Just look at this room!" He walked around you with a tap in his step, dragging his finger across a part of the desk and rubbing his thumb and index together, "A bit dusty, a bit drab. But I'm sure we can tidy this place up a bit!"

You turned around and found him inspecting almost everything in the office, looking through drawers and making small remarks. Weird.

You pulled out a dusty chair and sat down, pulling out a leather journal that was shoved in a shelf, almost as if they were in a hurry. You flipped through it and found pages upon pages of different types of topics, like demon forms and weapons. A blank page caught your eye, you reached over and grabbed a pencil, flattening out the paper and beginning to write,

Power Disablers

These disable powers, they are angelic weapons that were banned in 1964, they can be used on both angels and demons, disabling any amount of power that is in the being. It looks like a gray collar with intricate carvings and electrical wires that flow through the metal, creating a pulsing purple light. The purple light shines through the carvings. On the inside of the collar it has metal prongs, all of different lengths and sizes, designed to drain specific powers from different veins.

How to open them: You press a small button and it quickly opens, you will hear a quiet electrical buzz and you will see small purple sparks, when it is inactive, there is no pulsing light, but when you open it, the pulsing light comes to life and shows you it is working.

How to close them: Closing them in general is very tough, you need to grab the two ends and push them together with all of your strength. Sometimes when this happens, it will be set into an unnamed mode where it will magnetize towards any being that is closest to the collar, their power will be like its metal for it to stick to, when the collar magnetizes to your neck, it will snap shut and start draining your powers.

What to do when one closes on your neck: You—

"What are you writing there?"

You flinched hard and flicked your wrist, dragging your pencil across the paper and ruining your neat writing. You let out an annoyed sigh and answered, "None of your business."

He scoffed, "Well, I think it is!" You stared at him with squinted eyes and a confused look on your face, he elaborated, "I help run this hotel, and so, whatever happens in this hotel is my business!" He leaned a bit closer, pressing on the fact that he wanted— no, needed to know what you were writing. You let out another sigh, before moving your arm, letting him see what it was, "...Power disablers? How do you know about those?" He snatched the book from your hands and read your writing. Rude.

"I know this woman, she has all these history books. Really big library. Queen Bea. You know her?"

"Really? You know Queen Bea?" He set the book down on the counter, his elbow on top of it as he rested his head in his hand, not letting you get a chance to grab it. So rude!

"Yea, I saved her son once, now she's," You air quoted, "'forever in my debt.' She sends me annual things, like clothing, honey, flowers… All because I made sure her son was safe during an extermination."

Without hesitation, Alastor claimed "She sends you weapons."

"No she doesn't—"

"Yes she does! She lives in the Hive, which is a very big place, there are big areas and one of the biggest ones is a market for weapons, also known as one of the biggest black markets in all of Hell. She has too many weapons, and she has some people to give them too, she is" He air quoted, "'forever in your debt', she sends you things, she likes you, she sends you weapons to protect yourself and whoever else you wish to protect. Which is Charlie, I presume?"

Your mouth opened and closed in utter shock. "I—"

"I guessed right! Ha!" He slapped his knee and adjusted his monocle, "I knew it!"

You were speechless, how did he do that?! How does he know that?! You watched as he continued to ramble on about whatever he wished to talk about. Finally, you caught up with yourself, "I— How did you know that...?"

"Know what, darling?"

"That! About the weapons, the queen, and Charlie! How?!" You stood up and motioned wildly, soon letting your arms fall and rest at your sides. He let out a small chuckle, "Darling, you're so easy to read! Every sinner here is! You can't deny that" He stalked around you and eyed you up and down, "body language is a very essential thing to learn. So, it'd be best to be honest with me, dearest." He used his thumb and index to lift your chin, meeting his cherry red eyes.

No.

Fuck no.

You couldn't help but see Henry, his black eyes shining with malice, and his sharp teeth growling with mean intent. You couldn't help but see the bruises and the cuts and the yelling that the man you thought you loved inflicted on you. You couldn't help but see that Alastor could easily grab you by the shoulders and throw you against the desk, yelling at you, hurting you… If that ever happens you were gonna fight back. No matter what. No matter how much fear you feel.

"You creep me out, you make me want to hide away and never come out again, to disappear and to evaporate from existence so I won't have to see your face ever again. How's that for honest, Henry?" You caught yourself. Shit. Alastor's eyes widened slightly but before he could question you any further, you heard a few gentle knocks on the door.

You ripped your head away from Alastor's grasp and walked over to the door, opening it and seeing the little bug, "Hi, miss Epione! I'm here to clean this office!" You smiled, "Hey! Come on in, we—" You looked up and found a few smoky shadows disappearing into thin air, "I was just leaving. You can have this whole room to yourself."

"Thank you, miss Epione!"

You smiled once more towards her before leaving the room and taking a small shivering breath, running a hand through your hair, and trying your best to go up the stairs to your room.

Alastor wasn't Henry. He isn't him and he never will be.

How will you know?

He can get you to trust him and then hurt you right afterward. Just because he made you breakfast and didn't kill you on the spot doesn't mean he won't hurt you. Like he said, he can read people very easily.

But you shouldn't judge so easily, what if he was actually really nice and just wanted to be your friend? What if he wanted to get to know you and treat you with respect? How will you know that he'll hurt you?

Oh my god, you are so trusting! So naïve! You need to protect yourself! Don't trust him!

But—

NO! No buts! He'll hurt you again, and I know that! He WILL hurt you and you'll have to protect yourself! He is Henry and you have to prepare! You can't trust Alastor. You CAN'T trust Henry! DON'T TRUST HIM!

NO! He's not like that!

YES HE IS! HE IS GOING TO HURT YOU NO MATTER WHAT!

YOU DON'T KNOW THAT!

YES I DO! I KNOW WHAT'S BEST FOR YOU! LISTEN TO ME AND YOU'LL BE OKAY! _DON'T TRUST HIM!_

You felt anxiety and frustration bubble up in your throat, your hands starting to shake as you reached the 3rd floor, quickly walking down the hall towards your bedroom. Your heart began to make leaps in your chest. Why did it feel like someone was watching you?

You quickly stopped and looked behind you, seeing nothing.

You felt a quiver in your stomach as you squinted down the corridor with concern, before you turned back around and started to walk quicker down the hallway, your anxiety and paranoia shooting through the roof.

You reached your door and in a desperate attempt, tried to open it with your key, your head aching to explode with all the questioning in your head. Your shaking hands struggled to unlock your door, tears threatening to pierce your eyes as you finally opened it. You slammed the door close and began to pace again, tugging at your hair and scratching yourself in anger. You lied down on the floor and curled up, tears staining the carpet as you hiccupped and tried your best to calm down the fire in your head.

You hugged yourself tightly and tried to calm yourself down, rubbing your arms in a comforting way as you continued to scream and cry, your mind on overdrive, frying itself to pieces until it's no longer indistinguishable.

You couldn't calm down.

Why couldn't you calm down?

You felt fear rise and squeeze your chest as you began to hyperventilate, thinking that you were gonna be stuck like this. On the floor. Crying.

You tried to take deep breaths but it wouldn't work. You tried to count to ten, didn't work. Inhale and exhale for 4 seconds? Nope. It didn't work, nothing worked.

Why are they not working? They worked before!

Why?

WHY?

_WHY?!_

_**WHY ARE THEY NOT WORKING?!** _

You screamed out again and tried to curl up once more, hoping and praying for this to end, you tugged at your hair hard and tried to ground yourself, you just couldn't. You felt like you were gonna float away and disappear. You heard muffled knocks… Was that Henry?

Oh, Henry… You needed him so badly. You needed Henry so badly, you can't survive without him… If he saw you like this, he'd be broken...

...Would he be broken or would he be angry?

You heard muffled footsteps and a hand gently rub your shoulder. The person removed your hands from your hair and spoke up.

You couldn't really hear what the person was saying. But you could still hear them nonetheless, you remember that voice. It was strawberry sweet and laced with calming redemption. Professional kindness and beautiful business. Excited squeals and enthusiastic praises. An angel from Heaven. Holy and just. A real saint in this land of rubble and hopelessness.

Charlie.

She kept trying to speak to you in a calm voice, but you heard only muffled noises and a small "Breath, Epione." You sniffled and let out a broken sob, shaking your head and trying to speak in small stutters and shaky quivers. Your throat was on fire, it was closed. You couldn't breathe, your body making you let out a strangled gasp as it tried to find ways for you to breath.

Charlie lifted you up so that you could sit and started to walk around the room. She locked the door, and then looked for any sharp objects to hide, soon coming back and asking softly, "Do you want to be alone?"

You shook your head wildly and broke out into another fit of sobs, pulling your knees into your chest and holding yourself for dear life. "Okay… I'm here for you, Epione. I'm gonna be here for you for all eternity. This is normal, this is okay. You're okay, Epione. Henry isn't going to get you. You're safe here."

Charlie took a deep breath, you did the same, feeling her hands hold yours in a comforting attempt. You felt the panic and the fire melt away slowly, your heart rate slowing and your hands tightly holding onto Charlie's.

"Do you need anything?"

"...A hug."

Charlie wrapped her arms around you and squeezed tightly, you did the same and took a deep, calming breath. "...Do you wanna talk about it?"

You shook your head. If Charlie knew that Alastor reminded you of Henry, she'd kick him out immediately, and that might be the reassurance that Henry needs to get to you. Once Henry's gone, then you'll tell Charlie. 

"I'm sorry."

"It's fine."

"No, I'm sorry. I'm so sorry—"

"Epione." She pulled back and cupped your face in her hands, "It's okay."

"No, it's not! I— I lead Henry here, I'm bringing chaos and danger around wherever I go! I'm sorry — I shouldn't stay here, I-I should leave—" You were feeling the anxiety build up again, until Charlie pulled you back in and hugged you as tight as she could. "You are not a burden. You are not a problem. You didn't know. We're gonna get through this. Okay?"

You slowly nodded your head and hugged back, hearing your friend take a deep breath and rub small circles on your back, humming a small tune that calmed your nerves and tired you out.

You closed your eyes and sighed in content, your grip slightly loosening on Charlie. Sooner or later — you didn't know when — you felt darkness consume you, falling into your dreamscapes and temporarily leaving reality, losing your hold on Charlie and her small angelic hums.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey! So, I was looking at name meanings and I saw that David meant "A beloved friend." Which is OBVIOUSLY not who Epione's partner is. I chose Henry because I was listening to SIX: The Musical while I was editing this and I thought that the name would've suited him better.
> 
> Also Alastor please stop being a creepy fuck :)


	3. Shining Eyes

Alastor never knew why he got into that fight. He really didn't. He really didn't understand why he wanted to fight Vox with the condition of no powers. He didn't know why he wanted to punch Vox to a pulp during 8:46 a.m. He just didn't.

It all went kind of fast, really.

He remembered limping down the street towards Vox, trying his best to hide his leg injury. He summoned his staff and let out a haughty laugh, "You're quite the entertainer, Vox!"

"...But of course you could use a few pointers. I mean, from someone like  _ me _ , I think you'd appreciate the hel—" Alastor's prideful monologue was cut short as an electric cable cord wrapped around his ankle and pulled him from under his feet, dragging him towards his sworn enemy, and as soon as Alastor was in front of Vox, he got struck in the face by his shoe.

Vox yelled out, "God, you're insufferable! Always blabbering and blabbering… Blah, blah, blah— It's so annoying!" He took Alastor's staff and raised it high in the air. Before Alastor could even react, all he saw was a blurry object rushing towards his face. He felt pain, lots of it.

Before Vox could strike his face with his staff again, Alastor grabbed the microphone and pulled back, causing Vox to trip forward. As Vox fell forward, Alastor kicked out and hit him in the chest, yanking the staff out of Vox's hands and striking him across the fa— screen? Screen.

As Vox stumbled back, Alastor made his way over to him, he grabbed the sides of Vox's screen and bashed his knee into it, hearing the glass shatter and crackle. That sound made his day.

He saw an electric cable cord move in his peripherals, but before he could even react, a cord grabbed his antlers and yanked back. A pain rushed through him as he let out a loud, painful yell. He stepped on the cord quickly, causing the cable to fall limp, and as he turned towards Vox—

Where did Vox go?

With sore eyes and aching skin, he looked around in caution, feeling a sense of dread overwhelm him and take over his calm exterior, he heard a chuckle from behind him and he whipped around, seeing nothing. He felt a shortness of breath as he tried to take deep breaths, where the hell did he go?!

"Oh, Alastor… So foolish~"

With that and a small tap on the shoulder, Alastor whipped around and saw a metal pole flying towards his way, he blocked it with his staff and took a step back, never taking his eyes off of Vox's cracked screen. Vox took a step forward and tried to hit him again, Alastor blocked it once more until the pole quickly moved and hit Alastor in his side. He winced and bit his tongue hard, feeling blood pool in his mouth.

Alastor blocked once more, pushing with all his might until the pole became loose in Vox's hands. He whacked the pole out of Vox's hand with his staff.

Before Vox could react, Alastor swung towards his screen and caused it to crack more. Alastor kicked his chest and pushed him to the ground, he then collapsed on top of him, straddling his waist and raising his fist. He struck and swung at Vox until he could no longer see his face, only a broken TV screen. Vox, who had been struggling, fell limp as Alastor shakily stood up, his smile growing wide and manic. 

He grabbed his staff and twirled it around, eyeing all the scratches and cuffs on the material. He let out a series of tsks before turning towards the TV demon, "Oh, Vox! I believe you made a mess of my microphone! I do think I should return the favor, hm?" He raised his staff in the air and punctured Vox's screen, causing small glass shards to further crack and the inner workings and wires of Vox's brain to scatter and fry itself. Alastor watched in delight as the TV demon's screen began to smoke.

Alastor yanked the microphone out of Vox's screen and had the staff disappear into a cloud of smoke, he felt exhaustion fall over him as his eyelids grew heavy. He reached in his coat pocket and pulled out a box of cigarettes. He never did smoke, but he would for special occasions, like now. He placed the cigarette in his mouth and summoned a small flame from the palm of his hand. Placing the flame by the end of the cigarette, he watched the paper grow in bright hues of orange and yellow, the glowing embers and dark grey smoke igniting his relaxation and ease.

He slowly inhaled and felt his nerves unwind, the aches and sharp pains from the fight going away. He turned towards Vox's limp body and eyed the still crackling flame in his hand before shrugging mindlessly and tossing the flame towards his body, the flame quickly consuming his coat and his skin, burning him alive and leaving nothing but seared, electrified steak with a side of wires.

His limp back to the hotel was painful and humiliating, he wished he could've just teleported back, but sadly he couldn't. His lack of energy was immeasurable and his hunger was getting in the way of his focus. He let out another painful grunt as he felt a sharp pain shoot up his leg, what did Vox do to his leg?

He took a deep breath and tried once more to walk, another sharp pain rushed through his bones and his nerves. He continued to do this, walking and then stopping because of the growing pain that would shoot up his leg and throughout his entire body.

As soon as he saw the hotel, he swore he thought he saw the gates of heaven.

...Don't tell Charlie that.

He shakily walked up the steps and knocked on the door, his knuckles swollen and aching and filled with glass shards. He heard some shuffling and then the door opened, "Hi, welcome to the Ha— Oh my god!" You showed up at the door, a look of fear and concern washing over your face as you pulled Alastor in and looked over his wounds.

"Hello, darling! You're a nurse, correct?"

You nodded with growing concern, eyeing a specific gash that tore through his coat, undershirt, and his arm.

"Good, because I think I'm about to pass out!"

"Wait wh—"

Before you could respond, Alastor passed out. You watched as his limp body fell to the floor with a loud thunk ringing through the lobby's walls. You quickly looked around in fear and spotted Niffty. "Hey! Niffty!" When she looked over to you, you waved her over and spoke up, "Could you do me a favor? Could you get me a stretcher from the nurse's office?"

"Alrighty!" She spotted Alastor and giggled, "Silly Al! Always sleeping in the weirdest places!"

You sat down beside Alastor's face and began to check his pulse. Still beating. Good. You then dragged Alastor towards the nearest wall and sat him up beside it, his head tilting and hanging slightly.

You took off his coat and unbuttoned the top buttons of his undershirt, as well as the buttons around his wrists. You loosened his belt and his bow tie, also undoing his suspenders.

You pulled out a small mirror from your pocket and held it under Alastor's nose, waiting for that sign to show that he was breathing. The little puff of steam that blows across the mirror and dissipates shortly after. That needs to show up. He needs to breathe.

You saw a puff of steam show up on the mirror. He was breathing. Thank god.

You let out a relaxed sigh as you placed the mirror back in your pocket.

As soon as she came back with the stretcher, you placed Alastor on top of it and quickly began to roll him into the office. Niffty rushed beside you, "Is something wrong with Al…?"

"He's just a little injured, Niffty. But I think he'll be okay." You nodded to yourself in reassurance, although even you didn't know if he was going to be okay. 

"You think...?" Niffty's worried voice broke your heart, but you had to reassure her. "No, I  _ know _ he's going to be okay. I'm a nurse! I know this type of stuff! You don't need to worry, Niffty." She slowly nodded, rushing up to Alastor and holding his hand in worry.

You opened the doors and turned on the lights, quickly placing him onto a hospital bed and grabbing the things you need. You sanitized your hands and put some gloves on. Removing his undershirt, you saw a lot of open wounds and bruises. You grabbed a syringe and an anesthetic. You found a vein and pumped the medication into said vein, quickly getting to work on patching up his wounds.

You grabbed a few band-aids and neosporin, placing them on a few cuts and scratches.

You reached for the gauze, wrapping it around some major cuts and tears.

You then held the needle and thread in your hands, slowly and surely getting to work on sewing up his wounds.

Every now and then, you'd hear a nervous sigh from across the bed, knowing that Niffty was sitting next to him, wanting to know if he was alright.

You'd never seen a servant get so worried about their master— oh who are you kidding, you would've acted the same way with Henry. But… this is different. Alastor treats Niffty with respect, he makes sure to congratulate Niffty about the smallest or largest things she does, even if she deems them as nothing important. Alastor cares about Niffty and helps her with anything she asks, he's patient with her and listens to every word she has to say. He makes sure she's always smiling at the end of the day, making her laugh with silly jokes… Did Henry ever do any of that with you? Or did he just see you as property? An object…?

A small groan pulled you out of your mind as you saw Alastor start to shift, you quickly placed a hand on his chest and pushed him down, making sure he didn't open his wounds.

After a bit of struggling, he went limp and groaned again, his hand coming up to rub at his eyes, until he abruptly stopped and hissed. You gently grabbed his arm and saw that he already opened some stitches. You removed the thread and replaced a new set of stitches.

"Is he okay?" Niffty asked with worry, you nodded, "Yeah, he just opened some stitches, it's okay."

When you made sure Alastor didn't try to move again, you went down to his leg. It was really messed up. You saw that the cut was dangerously close to the bone. You stitched up the cut and wrapped some gauze around it, hearing Alastor finally wake up.

"I- What…?" He tried to sit up but you beat him to it, pressing a hand to his chest and pushing him back down, "Don't move. I'm fixing your wounds."

There was some silence, besides Alastor's deep breathing, static and the sound of medical tape. You finished, beginning to put everything away until Alastor tried to sit up again, "Hey, stop that!" You pushed him down again, "Alastor, if you keep moving like that, your stitches are gonna open—" They opened. God dammit. You sighed and reached for his arm, Alastor immediately pulled back and threatened,  _ "Don't touch me." _

You set down the first aid kit with an annoyed expression on your face, "Well, sorry to burst your bubble, but I need to touch you. Because if I can't, then I won't be able to do my job, and you'd probably die. So, will you let me do my job?"

After a short period of silence, he offered his arm to you, looking away in slight embarrassment. You gently held his arm on your lap as you removed the thread and began to replace it. You then heard a loud grumble come from Alastor— or, Alastor's stomach? Before you could react, Niffty sprung up from her seat, "Oh! I'll make you some food! I'll be right back!" She then zoomed off, leaving you and Alastor alone.

You sighed and went back to the stitches, speaking up, "What happened?"

"...I got in a fight with that TV demon." He spoke of this TV demon with bitter sourness in his tone, you let out a small hum and answered, "Well, I don't think that Charlie will appreciate you sneaking off to fight other overlords. Besides, it'd be better not to get on their bad side."

He scoffed, "I'm already on a lot of bad sides. I'm a very powerful demon after all."

"That doesn't mean you can't make friends. Or, how would you call it? Stepping stones?" A small smile crept up on your face as you mocked his ways of manipulation. 

"Ouch, darling."

You let out a small chuckle, before getting serious, "Seriously, Alastor. Think about it. You could actually make some friends with overlords. Not for manipulation, but just for company. Haven't you ever wanted to spend some quality time with someone?"

"Haven't you? You're always serious! You never have any fun!" He slowly and carefully sat up, jabbing a finger in your direction. You gently nudged his hand away, "Just because I'm serious doesn't mean I don't have friends. I actually made friends here. Charlie, Niffty… They're nice to me, I'm nice to them, we're friends. And just because you're loud and entertaining doesn't mean that everyone wants to be your friend. Not everyone likes you."

His eyes widened at that statement, before they frowned with anger, "You—"

"Okay!" You interrupted him, suddenly remembering what you were supposed to do as soon as he woke up. "Can you follow my finger please?" You held up your index finger in front of his face, holding it in the middle and not moving until he gave permission.

"...What?"

"I'm checking to see if you've had a concussion. Now, could you please follow my finger?"

He stayed silent and nodded slightly, watching your arm slowly drag itself from one side to the other, his gaze never faltering or lingering. "...Okay, good. Now, keep your eyes open for me, okay? I'm gonna use this flashlight on your eyes." You took out a small flashlight and began to shine it in his eyes, noticing how his body froze up as if he was a deer in headlights.

You put away the small flashlight and pulled out your first aid, having noticed the stitches that opened up earlier. Thread here in Hell was terrible, it always broke. You gently grabbed his arm once more and spoke,

"Don't move." After a bit of sewing, you then finished working on his stitches, putting everything back in your first aid kit after taking out a small band-aid. You leaned in closer to Alastor, almost reveling in the fact that he was leaning away, but you couldn't mock him, you had to put this band-aid on him if he just stopped moving—

"Alastor, stop moving please." You gently placed the band-aid on his cheek, a small smile appeared on your face as you turned away from him, "There! All done."

As you were taking your gloves off, Alastor sat there in shock, his mind racing and short circuiting.

Your eyes.

Why did your eyes capture his attention?

Why did you remind him of warmth and happiness? Something he hasn't felt in so long?

The way your eyes shone under the bright light, your pupils filled with stars and fireworks, a symphony of lights and beauty. Warm embers of a fireplace and a soft melody of wind chimes. The taste of hot chocolate on a cold winter night and the feeling of warm blankets and soft pillows.

The scent of pine and mint and the sight of a campfire in the middle of the forest, igniting any sort of feeling in the Radio Demon.

Your eyes were of heartbreak and sorrow, happiness and excitement, anger and rage, want and needing…

Your eyes were the jumpstart to his new motivation. The hotel? "Helping" Charlie? Nope! Forget that. His new motivation was you. Just you.  _ Only _ you. He needed to protect you, to love you the way that Henry guy never did, to mark you and claim you as his.

Oh, God, to bite you… To see your blood spill and splatter all over his strawberry colored walls… To hear your screams of pain and fear and to taste your metallic fluids… All with consent, of course!

But, most importantly, to make you happy, to have you forever by his side and to always see you smile.

You were  _ his _ now, whether you liked it or not. 

You make him happy. You make him smile. You make him feel something he hasn't felt in almost a century. He can't let go of that feeling ever again. Not ever again.

You put the kit in a cabinet, speaking up as you walked back to the bed, "You shouldn't shower for another day or so, because of the fresh stitches." You grabbed a clipboard and started to write something down, "Make sure to move carefully and slowly throughout the day, nothing strenuous. It'll open the stitches."

He watched in silence as you sat down on a chair next to him, "If you want the pain to go away so you can get some sleep tonight, I'm sure Angel has some morphine stashed away. We don't have any right now but we're gonna get some more tomorrow."

We…?

He felt a nervous twitch in his heart and in his stomach as he heard the informative words spill from your throat and out of your mouth. Why did he feel so happy about that?

"And also you should check in with Charlie about certain things regarding the hotel, things like carrying heavy objects can open stitches." You set the clipboard down on the counter and rested your head in your hand, watching him process what was happening. He nodded and spoke, "...Thank you,  _ my darling. _ "

Your eyes widened. Alastor? Saying 'Thank you'?! You must be dreaming. "Oh uh… No problem." You gave him a small thumbs up before reaching for the clothing you previously tore off of him earlier. "Here. It's a little torn up, but from seeing the ends of your coat, I think you're into that style." Alastor let out a small chuckle and began to put on his undershirt.

"Well, I'm starved! My darling, would you like some breakfast?"

"Oh, no thanks. I already had some eggs, and—"

"Well, we'll make it a brunch!" Alastor finished buttoning up his shirt and began to slip on his bow tie. You rubbed the back of your neck, why was he being so persistent? "I don't know, Alastor…" Your worries were cut off as you found your personal space getting invaded by Alastor, him leaning forward into you so much that your noses were almost touching. His hand went to caress your cheek before it went to holding your chin in place,  _ "I'm not one you should say no to, my darling dear."  _

You froze in shock as his toothy grin grew a little manic, before his head snapped and shook a little and he went back to normal, "But, it's whatever you want, my dear! I can't force you!"

He finished tying up his bow tie and put his monocle back on. He was about to stand up from the bed until you stopped him, "Hey, wait! You need to rest! I'll get you your breakfast. Just chill out and let your leg heal." He let out a reluctant sigh before laying back down, his arms crossing over his chest as he glared at the ceiling. He didn't like being told what to do. He really didn't. 

...But when it came to you, he just couldn't help but succumb to what you wanted, anything to make him feel happy, to make you happy.

You walked out the door and made your way to the kitchen. When you arrived, you saw Nifty making 3 plates of delicious looking eggs, pancakes, and the most delectable meat Hell could afford. You gave her a smile and grabbed a tray, adding the plates and glasses one by one. You noticed that one of the 3 plates had different meats, as well as a different glass. It wasn't orange juice. It was much darker. "...Niffty what is this?"

"Oh! Alastor has a…" She paused, trying to look for the right word. "Special diet!"

You squinted in slight suspicion, you'd have to talk to Alastor himself about his 'special diet', because that might be the reason why he looks so malnourished.

You picked up the tray and turned towards Niffty with a smile, "You ready to eat with Alastor?" She quickly nodded and bounced with joy, but before you could even take a step towards the office, you heard a loud alarm ring through the hotel.

You flinched hard and tried to make sure Niffty's hard work didn't perish. When nothing fell, you let out a sigh and quickly walked towards the kitchen's large window behind the sink.

With this kind of view, you could see a lot of the city. Even the Tower.

The Tower.

It…

It was ringing.

11 months before the annual extermination.

…

What the fuck?!

You grip tightened on the tray as you stared in shock, your breath shortening and your body still as you heard the alarm ring over and over, signaling an extermination.

There wasn't a pandemic or a war going on. It was November 2019 and there was absolutely no wave of demons falling into the pits of Hell, so—

Wait…

Oh, hell no.

You set down the tray and picked up Niffty, rushing over to the Lobby, you went behind the bar and pressed a button that Charlie showed you the first few weeks of your stay here. The button was an alarm that'll ring for 5 minutes throughout the hotel signaling a lock down that'll protect its inhabitants for the next 24 hours.

You turned towards Husk with a serious look on your face, "Don't let anyone in the hotel, don't unlock any door or open any window. Got it?" He slowly nodded and grumbled, taking a long sip from a bottle of cheap booze.

You walked to the power grid and flicked off a button. It turned off all the lights in the hotel, perfect for the extermination. You held Niffty tighter to you as the light in the lobby shut off. You rushed to the nurse's office and saw Alastor sitting up and looking confused, his glowing eyes illuminating almost half of the room, "My darling, what is that blaring sound?"

You set Niffty down next to Alastor and you sat down at the end of the bed, fiddling with your fingers anxiously.

"It's an early extermination."


	4. 'Special Diet'

Exterminations are an annual event. They consist of exterminators flying from the Heavens and landing on the asphalts of Hell, with angelic spears and a thirst for blood. They scour the streets for 24 hours and kill anyone who walks the same street as them.

But there are some times when they just wanna break the rules. They just want to appear and raid demon's houses and break into shelters and safe spaces and just slaughter them. All because they just felt like it.

For 4 hours, you sat with Alastor and Niffty. You texted the rest of the crew to see if they were safe. They were, thankfully, and they made sure to lock their doors and stay in a room with no windows.

You let a small sigh and let your head hang off of the bed, your body laying across the bed as you let Alastor rest his legs on your lap. Niffty was reading a story that Alastor had summoned for her. 

And Alastor? He was just silent, occasionally fiddling with his claws but all you could hear from him was radio static. You didn't know what he was doing since your head was currently upside down. 

You lifted yourself back up and shook your head slightly, the blood that pooled in your brain now quickly drained from how fast you got up, causing a headache to appear. You rubbed your temple and glanced towards Alastor.

His gaze that was on you quickly moved to focus on something else.

...Weird.

You heard a loud explosion from outside the hotel, as well as a series of screams. A shudder fell over you as you hugged yourself, fearing just the thought of that explosion happening to you and the crew. 

A hand gently touched your shoulder, you flinched and whipped your head around to see Alastor with a shocked look on his face before it immediately shifted into one of cheerfulness. "Hello, my darling! Say, do we have anything to eat?"

Oh.

Oh, shit.

You forgot the breakfast!

You ran a hand through your hair in deep thought until you remembered. Right! You had some food in your bag! You grabbed your bag that was on the counter and dug through it, finding a granola bar and a banana. You handed him the food with a small smile on your face. Surely he'd eat it, right? 

He cringed, "I… My darling, as much as I appreciate your efforts, I simply cannot eat such sweet things."

You frowned, "Alastor, if you don't eat this, then you won't be able to heal properly."

"I know that! But I have a very…" He rolled his wrist, his smile growing as he looked off to the side, "...Special diet. If I don't eat food that consists of that special diet then I'll still be hungry and I won't be able to heal! It's a whole thing."

Your eyes squinted towards his way, what was his special diet? You sighed and looked towards the door, "I can grab the breakfast, but I _have_ to be careful. Okay?"

He nodded and summoned a weapon for you, it was a small handgun. "I wish I could summon a larger weapon for you, my darling. But, sadly, I can't." You nodded and grabbed the gun, walking over to the door and resting your hand on the doorknob, you let out a shaky sigh before opening it and quickly closing it shut. You couldn't see 5 feet in front of you. Hell was always dark, always a dark red that made your sleep cycle trash, causing unattractive eye-bags and insomnia. It's a very dangerous thing to be tired in Hell.

You let out another shaky breath before gulping and, from what you could remember, you slowly and quietly walked down the hall, your shaking hand tightly gripping the hand gun.

You walked into the lobby and saw nothing but Husk passed out with a bottle of vodka in his clawed hand. You stalked into the kitchen and saw the breakfast tray still sitting on the counter by the sink in front of the window. You eyed the dark glass and the plate with peculiar meats. Bingo.

You stepped over to the tray and smiled to yourself, until you saw something…

What was that shadow?

You snapped your gaze up to the window and saw a dark silhouette. 

It looked beautiful yet menacing.

It had long curved horns.

It had beautiful angelic wings.

It had a... a spear…

It was an angel.

An exterminator.

…

FUCK.

With a bird like screech and a lunge. The window broke, with multiple shards of glass flying around in every direction as the angel lunged towards you, any demon's murderous intent was nothing compared to this angel.

The angel tackled you to the ground and lifted a spear, their grin stretching into their eyes and cracking their face. The spear flew down and almost hit your chest. You grabbed it just in time and kicked their chest back, yanking the spear out of their hands and watching the angel's horns smash into the oven's glass window. 

The angel got back up and tried to grab the spear. You dipped and swung your leg, knocking the angel over their feet and sending them to the floor. You tried to stand back up but the angel grabbed your ankle and pulled you towards them. You kicked towards the angel's face. That made them let go of your ankle. You stood up and darted out of the way as the angel jumped up and screeched loudly.

You ran and hid, holding the spear for dear life behind the island counter. You saw the angel's shadow creep up to where you were. A small, scratchy chuckle left its throat.

You saw a clawed hand out-stretch itself towards you. You gasped and stabbed the hand with your spear. They screamed and tried to pull back, you stabbed the angel in the chest and watched them start to deteriorate. You stabbed them over and over for good measure, before dropping the spear and watching the angel crumble into itself. Dusty, cracked, and bleeding out, it slumped over and became limp.

You let out a few deep breaths before walking over to the counter and picking up the tray, not noticing a few glass shards get into the food.

You walked out of the dark kitchen and barricaded the doors that led to the room with the open window. You carefully walked back to the office and opened the door.

You walked over to Alastor and set the tray down by his legs, handing him his plate of food and his dark drink. He stared at you in shock, "My darling, what happened?"

"What?"

He summoned a small hand mirror and gave it to you. You grabbed it and looked in your reflection, seeing splatters and splotches of blue. "Oh."

You handed him back the hand mirror and answered, "I killed an angel."

Alastor's grin widened as a small radio screech sounded in the background. "You what?"

"An angel saw me in the window when I was trying to get the tray of food. They tackled me and tried to kill me but I killed them first." You grabbed a napkin and began to wipe off the blood, watching faint strokes of blue run across your skin before you wiped it again and saw nothing. You threw away the napkins and sat down on a chair with wheels. Alastor stared at you in shock as you rolled yourself over to Alastor's bed and grabbed a plate and a drink from the tray. He spoke up, "Well, my darling, at least you didn't get stabbed by that dreadful spear!"

You nodded with a small smile on your face. Resting your legs on the bed, you were about to shovel some delicious eggs into your mouth until you saw some sort of gleam. You squinted and saw a shard of glass in the eggs. Your eyes widened as you quickly put your plate back on the tray.

You heard some crunching and saw Alastor eating his glass-filled eggs. Honestly, you weren't surprised, but damn that must hurt just trying to chew it. You grabbed the granola bar and banana that Alastor previously dismissed, peeling the banana and taking a small bite out of it, you rolled your chair back and opened a file cabinet, sorting through it and finding just the file you needed.

You opened it and grabbed a few slips of paper, with that and a few other things, you rolled your chair back over to Alastor and began to write with the pen that Queen Bea gave you a few years ago.

"So,"

Alastor's eyes snapped up to you and then set his plate and drink off to the side, now having his full attention on you and only you.

After you finished writing general information about him, you then began to write about his 'special diet', "what's this special diet of yours?"

"Well, my darling, it's simple things, really. Just some deer and demon meat!" He grabbed his drink and showed it off, "As well as deer and demon blood!" He took a small sip of the blood before he set it back down and turned to you once more.

You nodded, feeling fully creeped out, "...Right… So, could I see your hands real quick?"

He chuckled and rolled his eyes, "My darling, you're always so riveting." He took off his gloves and watched his ring slowly grow from his skin, glimmering under the bright light and shining along with your ring. You saw the gleam and pointed at it with a small smile on your face, "Oh, hey! I have the same ring!" 

You showed off your ring to him and a look of confusion washed over his face as he showed off his hands, "That's odd how we have the same ring… Especially since this was on me when I fell."

"Yeah, the same thing happened to me." You gently grabbed one of his hands and examined the nails, seeing a dull color with dents and ridges, as well as a split in the free edge. You squinted and furrowed your eyebrows in concern, even letting out small hums as well.

You let go of his hand and began to write, "Alastor, do you eat things other than deer and demon meat?" He tapped his chin in deep thought before answering, "Well, of course! Though, I only eat savory foods."

"And that's…?"

"Vegetables- but that's only if they're in meals with meat, black coffee, blood, fish, poultry…" He tapped his chin again before nodding to himself, "I think that's it!"

You nodded and then said, "Okay, you have to cut this 'special diet' off." Before he could even react, you continued, "If somebody ate like this, they'd drop dead at 35! You've, from what I assume, been eating this for almost a century! Alastor, your body cannot deal with this kind of food! Your nails definitely show that your body's in distress and it needs to have an actual proper diet. So,"

You flipped a page and began to write a list, "You need to incorporate this in your breakfast, lunch, and dinner everyday. You need to eat something other than deer and demon meat, you need to eat steak or pork, as well as chicken and turkey. You also need to eat vegetables and fruits—"

'Fruits?! But my darling, those are swee—"

"Just because you don't like sweet things, doesn't mean you don't have to eat them. Not everyone likes vegetables but they have to eat it, right?" You silenced him quickly with that argument of yours. You let out a sigh before finishing, "Now, with fruits you don't need to eat them as much, but it's recommended you eat it in your breakfast and lunch. You also need to eat plenty of grains and carbs so you'll have a lot of energy. And lay off of the blood, too! Just drink regular water or coffee."

He let out a sigh and felt a hand touch his arm, "Alastor, you'll be okay if you just slowly push yourself to change your diet. Just trust me on this, okay?"

He looked towards you and saw a small smile on your face. It was beautiful. Angelic. He gave you a small smile in return and nodded softly, "Okay."

You gave him a few gentle pats on the arm and went to go and put away your papers, hearing another explosion outside of the hotel. You flinched and immediately backed away from the walls of the office, sitting down on the bed and fiddling with your ring, feeling the cool crystals and glass against your warm fingertips.

Alastor, who had finished eating all of his glass-filled eggs, summoned a book and started to read from the middle, content white noise emitting from him reaching your ears, causing a sigh of relaxation to flow out of you.

You saw Niffty sleeping, curled up in a small chair and using her big skirt as a makeshift blanket. You went and picked her up, holding her close to your chest as you slowly sat down next to Alastor, making sure not to wake Niffty up. You set her down between you and Alastor and heard another explosion, this time it was much closer and it shook the hotel. The rumbles and rattles that echoed through the building gently shook the bed, the Radio Demon quickly wrapped his arms around you and Niffty, making sure the two of you didn't get hurt.

The rumbling stopped and you noticed his arms, a smirk grew on your face as you joked, "Wow, Alastor. Growing a soft spot, huh?" His eyes widened and he quickly recovered, his smile growing a bit, "It was just to protect Niffty, my dearest. You were just another shield for her." Your smirk grew and you let out a fake gasp, mocking Alastor in the process, "Oh, you break my heart! I'm just a measly shield!" You dramatically laid an arm over your eyes and heard a small chuckle from the man next to you.

You let out a small giggle and felt exhaustion finally settle in your bones. After all of that stress, you felt like you needed a nap. Your heavy eyes closed and your hand that clasped one of your bent knees fell by your side, the other hand resting in your lap. You took a deep breath and fell into a small landscape of unconsciousness and darkness.

Alastor had watched you fall into a peaceful slumber, the hand by your side twitching slightly, almost tempting him to take gentle hold of it and rub small circles into the palm of your hand, to give you comfort and peace.

But he knew he couldn't do that, he reminded you of this guy named Henry, and from how you talked of him, he treated you horribly. It broke his heart that he couldn't hug you or hold your hand without being rejected in fear and disgust. He was going to make sure that he'd remind you of warmth and happiness instead of that fowl beast who hurt you.

If it had to take an entire eternity to do it, then so be it.


	5. sad (butalsonotsad) news

* * *

hey y'all, so i'm gonna stop writing this story. i've lost the motivation to continue it and school has been kicking my ass lately.. i'm gonna be focusing more on life and everything, because honestly? this fanfic was actually making me feel bad because i never knew if i actually wanted to finish it or not.

i'm also giving my oc (Epione) to someone on instagram! if you really want, you can look out for that but you don't have to!!

i'm sorry for cutting this story off so abruptly, and i hope y'all have a great evening/morning/whatever time of day! :)

**Author's Note:**

> Hi! I hope you liked this chapter! If you have any suggestions for how I can get better at writing, PLEASE tell me!!
> 
> Oh, also, I deleted the other book I was previously working on because of stress and having to manage school and life... Fortunately, I have that figured out and I'm working hard on these chapters! 😄
> 
> I hope y'all have a great day/night! - Aches


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